$2.4B in new construction planned for Charlotte's center city by 2027
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Blue-shaded buildings are new since 2010. Red represents existing buildings undergoing renovations or being converted to other uses. Purple buildings are forecast to break ground by 2026. Green buildings are under construction. Brown buildings are in the planning stage. Map: Provided by Charlotte Center City Partners
Within the next few years, Charlotte's urban core — consisting of Uptown, South End and midtown — will get another 4,866 apartments, 1,246,000 square feet of office, 1,501 hotel rooms and 257,045 square feet of storefronts.
Why it matters: It all adds up to $2.4 billion worth of new construction expected to start or be underway by 2027. Each year, Charlotte Center City Partners tallies this number for its yearly "State of the Center City" report, which it uses to attract employers, investors and developers.
Yes, but: That number does not include an additional $2-plus billion being spent on repositioning and converting existing buildings, from Bank of America Stadium's $800-plus million renovations to the $250 million transformation of the ex-Duke Energy headquarters to apartments.
Flashback: Even if you include the reinvestments, a $4.4 billion development pipeline is lackluster compared to past years in Charlotte when cranes dotted the sky.
- In 2023, the city's development pipeline was $6.9 billion. That fell to $4.2 billion in 2024 and $3.7 billion in 2025.
- "We had a ton of apartments that came all at once. We had a lot of office," explains Michael Smith, CCCP's president and CEO. "And then headwinds on capital markets just paused everything."
State of play: Apartment construction has slowed as supply outpaces demand. In a reversal, the average rent for a Charlotte one-bedroom recently dropped nearly 2% year-over-year to $1,468, according to new data from Apartments.com.
- In fact, Charlotte apartments are now advertising huge concessions to compete for residents. More than half of Charlotte rental properties now offer at least one month of free rent, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Not too many new offices are being built anywhere in the country, either, due to lagging demand. About 24% of office space in Charlotte's urban core is vacant. CCCP prefers that rate hover somewhere between 12% and 14%, mostly full but allowing space for companies to grow.
- For years, the frequency of employees working in center city offices (at least three days a week) was stuck at around 70% to 80% of pre-pandemic levels, according to CCCP.
- But in 2025, that figure jumped to about 94%, signaling a faster return to desks.
Case in point: Developer Riverside locked in an anchor, plus other tenants, to fill nearly all its planned office space at Queensbridge Collective. The leasing momentum allowed Riverside to break ground on the second tower last year, a nod of confidence in Charlotte's office market.
- South End's newest office tower, 110 East, is filling up. And the next big one, Carson & Tryon, could break ground soon once the developer secures an anchor tenant.
- "People are actually figuring out how to put together capital stacks in order to build new office, which for the last couple years has been a tremendous struggle," SVP of economic development James LaBar says, due to interest rates and high construction costs.
Vacancy is more challenging among the pre-2000s office buildings. (Those built after 2000 are 91% occupied.) But CCCP expects progress this year as more "vintage" properties undergo conversions or repositions.
- For example, 200 North College sold at half as much as it did in the 2010s. The new owner expects to profit by redeveloping the five-story office building into 300 residential units and retail.
- Other buildings are getting makeovers to make them more attractive, such as 201 North Tryon, formerly Fifth Third Center. Cousins Properties is spending millions to redo the lobby and amenity floor with a gym, meeting spaces and even a snazzy game simulator.
- Across the greater Uptown area, more than $850 million in office acquisitions have occurred since 2024.
- "You will actually see some investors that invest more in the building than they paid for it," Smith said.
What's next: CCCP is most amped up about large land assemblages where new offices may be built as part of massive mixed-use districts, specifically the Iron District, North Tryon Tech Hub and Charlotte Gateway Station.
- The delayed Gateway Station project, which will serve as the future Red Line terminus, may actually get started soon because there's now a new revenue source: Mecklenburg County voters approved a 1-cent sales tax increase for transportation projects in 2025.
- In addition to the train station, hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space will be built as part of the mixed-use development.
The bottom line: "The next couple times we sit down," Smith tells me, "there'll be more apartments. There'll be more office. There'll be more hotel rooms."
